26 entries from February 2011

February 21, 2011

We seek a person experienced in parish ministry, working with the Bishop to develop Mission Strategy and to lead a team which provides support to clergy and PCCs as they develop and implement their strategy for mission and growth.

The person will:-

provide leadership in the development and implementation of the diocesan mission strategy

be team leader of the Parish Mission Support Department

have a parochial base. (House for Duty – one day a week).

The person appointed to this new and exciting post will receive the support of the Bishop’s Staff Team as she/he takes the Blackburn Diocese into its next stage of ‘Going for Growth’.

Role specification and application form available from:-

The Bishop of LancasterEmail: bishoplancaster@gmail.comTel: 01524 799900Closing date for applications: 4 March 2011Interviews: 17 March 2011Enhanced CRB will be required.

Do you know of any genuinely unchurched young men in fresh expressions of church in your area? Norman Ivison is doing some research into what factors might make fresh expressions of church more acceptable to unchurched men aged 18-35.

For the purposes if this research, unchurched means no significant experience of church either as a child or adult until they joined the fresh expression. This excludes those who have transferred from other churches or fresh expressions.

I want to inform you of this very exciting opportunity, which would be working alongside Hope to make a real difference in the lives of thousands of young people. Following the success of Hope 08 and Youth Agencies working together alongside denominations, the Leadership Team feel it is important to appoint a Youth Director to roll out the youth strategy over the next four years, building to 2014. This will embrace the values of Hope in Words and Actions and working together in regions to deliver the agreed strategy over the next four years of mobilising young people in mission and working in partnership.

If you are looking for an interesting way to get people on board with HOPE have a look at what Barry Hill did with others in Leicester:

There’s a write up of the evening at http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=584 which hopefully gives a flavour. The aim was to get together 100 or so church leaders from across the denominations – especially the key people in each of our 62 churches together groups (about 60% were represented in the end) and give them a missional menu of possibilities around Hope, More than Gold and Biblefresh (rather than drip feeding ideas over the coming months when many are already feeling overloaded). Hope was the main focus but we also shared on MTG and Biblefresh and everyone got a goody bag with a host of DVD, leaflets, Hope books, etc.

Rural Churchplanters Forumin conjunction with Fresh Expressions

Making & Growing Disciples in the Countryside4-5 May 2011Bawtry HallCost £85

You have planted or are seeking to plant a fresh expression of church in a rural area

You long to see new people becoming disciples of Jesus in the countryside

You want to keep growing in faith and love yourself

You want to learn and pray with other rural pioneers

If these things are true of you, “making and growing disciples in the countryside” is for you – not just a conference but a gathering for learning from each other, story-telling, and prayer.

Our learning will be facilitated by Graham Cray (leader of national Fresh Expressions), Sally Gaze (author of Mission Shaped and Rural and leader of the Tas Valley Cell Church) and other members of the Rural Churchplanters forum. Our hosts will be Pete and Kath Atkins (leaders of the Threshold family of churches in rural Lincolnshire).

If you would like to receive an invitation to this gathering, please contact Sally Gaze tel. 01508 470762 (sally@tasvalley.org) with some brief details of the fresh expression of church which you are involved with or hoping to start.

February 14, 2011

Also from Philip news of the Resourcing Mission Bulletin which is where the write up of the Toronto story first appeared.

This would be great to sign up to.

Resourcing Mission Bulletin

January 2011 issue

The (Resource) Strategy & Development Unit of the Archbishops’ Council and Church Commissioners is today publishing the second issue of the Resourcing Mission Bulletin.

It continues to be our hope that the Bulletin will be an effective vehicle for helping to disseminate the lessons learned from existing ministry and mission, spread ideas about the opportunities for growth and, more generally, stimulate thinking on a range of resourcing issues.

The Bulletin is circulated to all bishops, deans, archdeacons, DBF chairs and secretaries, diocesan missioners, the chairs of diocesan synod houses of clergy and laity, diocesan social responsibility officers and to a number of other individuals who have asked to join the mailing list following the first issue. Please do forward this e-mail to anyone who you think would find the Bulletin of interest.

Readers are warmly encouraged to help make the Bulletin their own by contributing to it. If you have suggestions for material for future issues, please e-mail Catherine Dorman (catherine.dorman@churchofengland.org).

Oxford Diocese are doing some work with Grow Zones, a national community growing project resource which you may be interested in. Below is an introduction to Grow Zones.

Joining Forces To Get Your Garden Growing

Grow Zones is a community project bringing help and inspiration to your garden, wonderful food to your table and adding friendship and purpose to your life.

A Grow Zones team clubs together to share skills, tools and produce to eliminate food miles and turn gardens over to permaculture at whatever level you want – from a redesign of your whole plot to simply helping and sharing with someone else’s once or twice a year.

The project gets people growing; introduces permaculture ideas; forms community; and teams even benefit from insurance cover for their group activities. Backed up by the Grow Zones Kit you’ll have all the resources, ideas and inspiration you need to get going.

Grow Zones is a resource kit to enable groups in the community to begin to grow food along permaculture principles. The project was piloted in Bristol and, with Local Food funding, a resource kit has been developed to help a facilitator and team get organised and growing without necessarily having any expert knowledge.

It is an ideal resource for those interested in working with local communities. At the beginning the project was a way to get people growing their own food and to introduce permaculture practically, but it has proved to be an amazing community forming project too. It seems easier for people to make friends over shared work.

Insurance is even included in the kit along with beautifully designed booklets and a DVD which can be used by the facilitator to show potential participants at an introductory meeting.

JustMap exists to put a range of Christian social projects on the map! JustMap aims to map all social action being provided by Christian groups throughout the UK. The website can be found at www.justmap.org.uk, and is a resource for Christians to serve the marginalised in their area.

JustMap also demonstrates what Christian groups are doing to serve the poor of our nation.

We would like to invite you (or any from your church/network) to attend this open day with Alistair Petrie from Partnerships Ministries (Canada) who will address some of the core issues connected with Authentic Transformation.

Alistair is in touch with locations around the world that are seeing transformation in every area of the life of a community. We have asked him not only to tell some of the stories but also teach on some of the principles and questions that arise.

We’d like to have as much representation across the body of Christ as possible to this day. So whether you are involved in social justice, mission, evangelism, church planting, prayer, are connected with Hope Together and/or More than Gold - you are most welcome. Do feel free to circulate around your contacts and church members.

The Fresh Expressions course mission shaped ministry is now firmly established as a major provider of lay and ordained leadership training in a mission shaped church. msm has been presented 62 times across the UK with nearly 2,200 participants. Last year msm went international with a first course in Canada. This year Australia and the US will join the growing learning community with New Zealand set to join the party next year.

In response to critique, feedback and experience the course materials were significantly revised in 2010 and given a fresh new look. Cris Acher, Ian Adams, Mark Berry, Jo Cox, Ben Edson, Olive Fleming Drane, Tony Hardy, Freddy Hedley, Ruth Poch and Sue Wallace all contributed to the revision process. The revised materials have been well received.

mission-shaped ministry is a gem of a resource for anyone involved in reaching beyond the church walls with the good news. With great content, creatively presented, it is an almost essential tool for anyone engaged in pioneering ministry or thinking about fresh ways of being church. I’ve done the course myself and regularly recommend it to others. Ian Bell, Coordinator, VentureFX

A message from Mark Russell. Please pass this on to any young people/youth workers who may be interested as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is 9.00am this Wednesday:

Dear friend

We want to tell you about the Regeneration Youth Summit happening March 3rd in Sheffield.

Regeneration is being led by young people aged 15-21 and offers them a unique opportunity to meet with bishops on their terms. Throughout the day they will seek to make the future generation a priority for the Church of England and discuss in small groups how the church can better equip, resource and reach young people in the UK.

The youngest member of General Synod, Sam Follett, 20, will be leading the event with the help of five other young people and Church Army’s Chief Executive, Mark Russell. Both the Archbishops of York and Canterbury will be part of the day along with 30+ bishops.

Regeneration is being sponsored by Church Army with the support of The Archbishop of York Youth Trust. It was the brainchild of Mark Russell who is urging the church to put young people at the top of its agenda.

He said: “The church is wrinkling and shrinking; we are neither reaching nor discipling young people in significant numbers. The Church of England in many places has an average age of over 60, and the missing generations see the church as irrelevant and sidelined. I passionately believe the Christian message has something powerful to speak into young people's lives."

We are looking for around 150 young people to attend the event, if you know some aged 15-21 years old please direct them to www.regenerationsummit.orgwhere they can apply to attend. The deadline for booking is 9.00am Wednesday 16th February. We will be covering travel and they will be provided lunch at the event. We want young people who are passionate about Jesus and willing to share their ideas about how to make Him known to other young people in our nation.

We believe that God wants to do something significant through this event and would love you to support it!

Postgraduate Diploma/MA in Pastoral CounsellingA unique part time programme in a residential learning environment, integrating professional counselling training with a Gestalt approach to counselling theory and Christian spirituality. It is designed for people working in the caring professions, clergy, church pastoral workers, and those considering a career in pastoral counselling.

The course is validated by the University of Chester and can be taken over 3 or 4 years as part of a progression to professional accreditation. Each year consists of 20 residential days with extensive theoretical and practical work in between. Students will be given the opportunity to extend their studies to an MA as well as working towards professional BACP accreditation.

Some lay workers and clergy may wish to take Stage 1 as a stand-alone year as part of their own personal and professional development in pastoral care and counselling skills.

Open Days: Wednesday 23 March 2011, Friday 13 May or Wednesday 15 June 2011

Counselling Skills for Pastoral CareAn introductory but substantial programme which many people involved in pastoral care in churches have found useful. This course is often taken by students progressing to the Postgraduate Diploma/MA or can count towards our Certificate in Christian Studies.